1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a snap button composed of male and female members to be used as a fastener of, for example, clothing, and a method of attaching such a snap button to a cloth with resiliency.
2. Description of the Related Art
This type of snap button composed of male and female members is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. Sho 47-8675. In this known snap button, as shown in FIG. 18 of the accompanying drawings, each of the male and female members 102, 101 has a shank 121, 110 projecting centrally from its face plate 104, 103. The male member 102 and the male member 101 have a spherical head 121' and a fitting recess 112 at their respective shanks 121, 110 so that they can be engaged for by a snap action. After corresponding parts of the cloth C-1 have been pierced by the respective shanks 121, 110 of the male and female face plates 104, 103, a pair of washers 121, 110 each having a central hole smaller in diameter than each shank 121, 110 are threaded respectively on the each shank 121, 110 to clamp each of the corresponding parts of the cloth C-1 between each face plate 104, 103 and each corresponding washer 151, 150.
In the meantime, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. Hei 8-173214 discloses a hook and eye fastener of synthetic resin. In this known hook and eye fastener, as shown in FIG. 19 of the accompanying drawings, the fastener comprises male and female bodies 206, 205, a pair of packing rings 261, 260 and a pair of face plates 204, 203. The female body 205 as a socket is made of polyacetal resin and has an axial plug-insertion recess 212, the recess 212 having centrally in its bottom a seated packing hole 214 on the outer side, while the male body 206 as a plug has a tubular shank 228, which is to be releasably fitted in the plug-insertion recess 212 of the female body 205, and centrally in the bottom of the tubular shank 228 on the outer side a seated packing hole 214. The packing rings 261, 260 are made of soft urethane resin and are fixed in the respective packing holes 225, 214 of the male and female bodies 206, 205 by fitting, gluing or welding. Each packing ring 261, 260 has a removal-prevention flange 265, 264 to contact with each seat 271, 270 of the male and female bodies 206, 205 and a central leg-insertion hole 263, 262. The face plates 204, 203 are made of polyacetal resin having an axial leg to be clenched. During attaching, the leg 221, 210 of each face plate 204, 203 is pierced through each of the corresponding parts of the cloth C-2 and inserted trough the respective packing ring 261, 260 and then, is clenched in the socket or plug of the corresponding bodies 206, 205. Thus attaching of the male and female bodies 206, 205 to the cloth C-2 has been completed. In use, the tubular shank 228 of the plug of the male member 202 is coupled and uncoupled with the undercut plug-insertion hole 212 of the socket of the female member 201. Further, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. Hei 8-294405 discloses an eye and hook fastener of synthetic resin, which comprises a female body 305 of a female member 301 as a socket, a male body 306 of a male member 302 as a plug, a pair of packings 360, 361 and pair of face plates 303, 304, as shown in FIG. 20 of the accompanying drawings. The female body 305 has a plug-insertion recess 312 on the inner side, the recess 312 having in its bottom a leg-insertion hole 314, while the male body 306 has a tubular shank 323, which is to be fitted in the plug-insertion recess 312 of the socket of the female body 305, and centrally in the bottom of the tubular shank 323 a leg-insertion hole 325. The face plate 303, 304 has an axial leg 310, 321 to be clenched. And each face plate 303, 304 has in its inner surface a packing recess 370, 371 for fixedly receiving each packing 360, 361 which is made of a soft urethane resin by gluing or welding. During attaching, with the cloth C-3 between each of the male and female bodies 306, 305 and the corresponding packing 361, 360, the leg 321, 310 of each face plate 304, 303 is pierced through each of the corresponding parts of the cloth C-3 and inserted trough the respective packing 361, 360 and, then, is clenched in the socket or plug of the corresponding bodies 306, 305. Thus attaching of the male and female members 302, 301 to the cloth C-3 has been completed. In use, the tubular shank 328 of the plug of the male body 306 is coupled and uncoupled with the socket of the female body 305.
In attaching such a conventional snap button to a cloth, it has been a common practice to clamp the cloth between a face plate, which bears on its outer surface an ornament, and each of plug and socket of male and female members by piercing the axial leg of the face plate through the cloth, threading the leg through a central leg-insertion hole of each of socket and plug, and then clenching the distal end of the axial leg of each face plate by a punch. Thus, each of the male and female buttons is attached to the cloth by a single clenching operation. For example, in the above-mentioned snap button of FIG. 20, the axial leg 321, 310 of the face plate 304, 303 is threaded through the packing 361, 360 and then pierced through the cloth and finally inserted into the central hole 325, 314 of each of the male and female bodies 306, 305, whereupon the axial leg 321, 310 of the face plate 304, 303 is clenched by the pressure of the punch. As a result each of the male and female members 302, 301 of the snap button is attached to the cloth by a single clenching operation.
However, these conventional snap buttons have the following problems.
In the first-named conventional snap button of FIG. 18, the axial shank 121, 110 of each of the male and female face plate 104, 103 itself is difficult to make slender and taper enough to pierce the cloth when attaching each of the male and female members 102, 101 to the cloth C-1. In fact, the shank 121, 110 is a particularly large-sized cylindrical tube so that the piercing of the shank 121, 110 through the cloth C-1 would be laborious and time-consuming. Further, since the washer 151, 150 is threaded on the shank 121, 110 and fixed only at the peripheral edge of the pierced hole of the cloth C-1, it would tend to be displaced in use, thus the cloth C-1 can not be clamped in a stable manner.
In the second-named conventional hook and eye fastener of FIG. 19, each of the plug and socket of the male and female bodies 206, 205 has in its rear surface a packing hole 225, 214, in which a soft urethane resin packing ring 261, 260 is stably secured by fitting, gluing or welding. However, since the leg 221, 210 of the face plate 204, 203 of the male or female body 261, 261 is pierced through the cloth and threaded through the packing 261, 260 and is then secured by clenching, the clamping of the cloth C-2 relies on only the clenching of the leg 221, 210, in which case the packing 261, 260 actually performs its original waterproofing feature but would be totally useless in securing the cloth C-2. Accordingly either of the male and female members 202, 201 would tend to become loose in securing after attached to the cloth.
Also in the third-named conventional synthetic resin hook and eye fastener of FIG. 20, like the second-named conventional fastener, partly since the cloth C-3 is clamped between a soft urethane resin packing 361, 360, which is secured in a packing recess 371, 370 in the inner surface of the respective face plate 304, 303 by fitting, gluing or welding and each of the plug and socket of the male and female bodies 306, 305, and partly since the axial leg 321, 310 of the respective face plate 304, 303 is clenched in the tubular shank 328 or the plug-insertion recess 312, the clamping of the cloth C-3 yet relies on only the clenching of the leg 321, 310 and would be little effective in securing the cloth. As a consequence, either of the male and female members 302, 301 would tend to become loose in securing after attached to the cloth.
Furthermore, in attaching the conventional snap button, since the snap button is secured at only one position to the plug or socket of the male and female members by clenching the axial leg of the respective face plate, adequate firm securing is difficult to achieve. Furthermore, since attaching of the snap button to the cloth takes place by a single stroke of the pressing punch, it is difficult to check any possible abnormality of the individual parts or elements during the pressing operation so that damaged or defect snap buttons might be manufactured.